Anglers Visit Lester River For MN Stream Trout Opener

Duluth, Minn. - It was the Minnesota Stream Trout Season Opener on Saturday. With the spring weather arriving early, the Minnesota DNR predicted good fishing conditions for anglers around the state.

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There's a certain charm when it comes to angling.

"The quiet time, it's peaceful when you get to sit here and fish. Doesn't get any better than that," says Matt McGregor, who fished on the Lester River.

Anglers on the Lester River.

WDIO/Clayton Zervas

Putting that line in the water you never know what is on the other end. Anglers like McGregor were out for the trout opener on Lester River using fishing yarn, which proved to be successful in snagging his first catch of the season within a half hour.

"That was the first one so far of the year, hooked onto a couple that was the first one," says McGregor.

The art of fly fishing takes patience and a lot of tugging, but the fight is one of the reasons anglers enjoy catching these feisty fish.

"They got some shoulders behind them, that's for sure especially the fresh ones you can tell. Like the one I got as pretty silver. Start getting the darker ones, that's when they been sitting in the river for a while," says McGregor.

Just up stream, Joshua Pearson also had his own tangle with a steelhead.

"Being in the river out here, you've got a little more to battle out here. The river, the currents, it's not like fishing out of the lake, so when that fish gets in the current it feels twice the size it is, so it's a battle and it's fun," says Pearson.

Both anglers said the little spouts of rain and warmer temperatures made the fish more active, which made the fight worth it.

"Honestly I've been here for the last two hours. I've lost seven or eight fish. I've had to go to the store twice to get more lures and this is the one I just got in, probably the biggest fish I've had all day, so it felt really good to get it on in honestly," says Pearson.